Skip to main content

tv   The Daily Rundown  MSNBC  November 29, 2012 6:00am-7:00am PST

6:00 am
in the process. may be worth looking at. >> rana, what did you learn? >> i'm feeling more bullish about the u.s. economy. i think consumers are where it's at. we just got to get over this fiscal cliff thing. >> jonathan capehart. >> i learned president morsi of egypt is fanatical about "planet of the apes." >> that is really all you need to know. jonathan, thank you so much. rana, steve, michael and everybody, thank you for watching today. if it's "way too early," it's "morning joe." chuck todd is next with "the daily rundown." together again. mitt romney makes his way to the white house. it's not exactly the way he wanted to get there. but can something constructive come out of a private lunch between president obama and the man he defeated just three weeks ago? that's right. that was just three weeks ago. also this morning, a deep dive into america's longest war. look into lessons learned and the sacrifices made by troops at
6:01 am
one combat outpost. tell us about what's been accomplished and what's not in more than a decade of fighting. as the country wakes up obsessed with numbers and winners, for the lottery, that, we've got a very important update on the election night numbers that gave us a winner. they've been changing steadily as the states keep on counting. and some important ways the selection perhaps is now going to get characterized. good morning from washington. it's thursday, november 29, 2012. in case you've been in a bunker all night, the winning powerball numbers are 5, 16, 22, 23, 29. the powerball number itself is 6. the reason i'm here and the reason my entire staff showed up for work today is because nobody here won. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. this morning, mitt romney comes to washington. the last time president obama and romney came face to face they were locked in a bitter fight for the presidency. today they'll try to bury the hatchet as the president makes
6:02 am
good on his election night promise to engage with romney, one' elaborated on in his first post election news conference. >> i do think he did a terrific job running the olympics. he presented some ideas during the course of the campaign that i actually agreed with and so it would be interesting to talk to him about something like that. >> this is a meeting, it's safe to say neither the president or romney is thrilled about doing. but they're doing it because it's the right thing to do after the country after a bitter election fight. frankly after any election, it's what you do in our democracy. in some ways a post election gesture is not all that unusual. remember the president hosted a 2009 dinner in john mccain's honor. though that didn't stop mccain from becoming a fierce critic, it was the right thing to do. it's a little different because romney is the first losing nominee since michael due kas cac kiss in 1988 who has not gone back to washington for a
6:03 am
job even temporarily which forced the logistics to be more intentional. they eat meat one-on-one at the private dining room at the bhous, no cameras, no staff. the president's spokesman yesterday was very careful to manage expectations. >> is governor romney here tomorrow in some kind of cabinet level position, some kind of audition for that position? >> no, no. >> romney will also meet with his running mate congressman paul ryan for the first time since the election. if cameras catch it, it's likely it might happen somewhere on capitol hill. we've been told it will be held in a private place, not in the u.s. capitol, not in one of the buildings. cameras did capture governor romney going to disney. he'll have office space at solo
6:04 am
mere, the firm co-founded by his son tag. he raised a record amount of money that no one thought was possible on the republican side. other than that we haven't seen much of romney. one person who is making himself known at least today is the romney campaign's chief strategist stewart stevens. he's defending the campaign in the pages of "the washington post." in an op ed that's amazing of being completely free of even a single piece of self reflection. if you believe stevens, it was all outside sources that stopped one of the great president campaigns in history, a campaign that by the way will make him fabulously wealthy. when all is said and done, stephens may have made as much as $10 million. we don't know for sure. the way this works, they all have dumb any corporations for all the fees when it comes to tv adds. he writes, quote, i appreciate that mitt romney was never a favorite of d.c.'s green room crowd or frankly of many politicians. but that was indicative not of
6:05 am
any failing of romney's but of how out of touch so many were in washington and in the professional political class. nobody liked romney except voters. what began in a small field in new hampshire grew into a national movement. republican ideals, mitt romney carried the day. on november 6th that wasn't enough to win, but it was enough to make us proud. asked this morning on cbs about his sunny side up view of the campaign, stevens in many ways doubled down. >> i think the ideas carry the day for us, and it's success we had, though it obviously wasn't enough to win the race, it was based on the candidate mitt romney and on his ideas. he wanted to talk about big national issues, debt, entitlements, the future of the country. he wanted to put big questions before the country, and he did that. >> still stevens did make some admissions in this tv appearance about his campaign's failures. >> i think we should have done a
6:06 am
better job reaching out to women voters. the governor has a great record on women's issues. we should have done a better job articulating that record. we should have done a better job reaching out to hispanic voters. we should have done it earlier and in a more effective way. >> later we'll update you on a lot of provisional ball ballots. we knew a lot of them would be cast. they're all finally being counted, and it is really increased the president's lead. it's going to turn out he is going to win by a bigger margin than george w. bush won in 2004. it may be the second biggest margin that a democrat has won for re-election in the last 100 years. with the so-called fiscal cliff looming mr. obama sends chief negotiator treasury secretary tim gheiter for individual meetings with each member of the conditioningal leadership which includes speaker john boehner, perhaps the most important player here. the meetings mark the beginning of the real negotiations.
6:07 am
that doesn't mean the posturing stage is behind us. one capitol hill veteran, former fdic, sheila bair, a long-time staffer by the way who butted heads with geithner in the past, made this interesting observation to david gregory about tim geithner saying he's not the right guy for the white house to be sending in for these talks. >> do you think tim geithner, secretary geithner is the right person to lead the negotiations for the administration sf. >> i don't know. i don't think this is tim's strong suit. i think tim was given the job of treasury secretary because he understood the banking system. he's not a budget guy. he's not a tax guy. he's never really worked in this sphere. >> geithner is leading these talks for two reasons. he and the president are very close. they simply click. secondly, boehner likes him. that's why geithner is the front man here. that sometimes matter more than anything else. on wednesday, the president brought back a campaign atmosphere. he surrounded himself with what he called average middle class families. it was all about ramping up political pressure on the republicans.
6:08 am
>> if congress does nothing, every family in america will see their taxes automatically go up at the beginning of next year. >> the president had a busy fiscal cliff day, also met privately with the ceo ofs of home depot, coca-cola and yahoo!. not to be out done on this pr front, house republicans made it public, hosting a group of nervous business leaders. they've signed on to a campaign called fix the debt. they want big spending cuts to supplement the coming tax hikes. >> i'm hopeful but i wouldn't put me anywhere near the optimistic category. we have a long way to go and a few days to get it done. >> don't forget that's erskine bowels. republicans are trying to put pressure on democrats even as
6:09 am
democrats enjoy the moment on taxes. here is where republicans are on entitlements. >> there's been no serious discussion by the white house on entitlements, on medicare and medicaid. this has to be a part of this agreement or else we just continue to dig the hole deep i. >> republicans are very frustrated that what's taking up oxygen right now is the issue of taxes. in fact, yesterday that's what happened. the first major public break inside the republican controlled house, oklahoma congressman tom cole who endorsed the president's short-term approach. >> in my view we all agree we're not going to raise taxes on people that make less than $250,000. we should just take them out of this discussion right now. >> if the president is willing to accept 80% of the bush tax cuts for 98% of the american people and make them permanent, i think that is a point we should agree on. >> it almost sounds like jay
6:10 am
carney at the podium when you hear tom cole these days. he's about to come on the show. we'll ask him about that. his idea was quickly sht down by sean duffy who did it right here on daily rundown. >> i think this is a minority position within the party. >> the goal here is to grow the economy and control spending. you're not going to grow the economy if you raise tax rates on the top two rates. >> but remember this, cole did boehner a huge favor yesterday. whether boehner realizes it or not, providing him cover. what boehner needs is republicans to be -- some group of republicans to be to his left. he needs there for to be republicans to his left and right on this so he is the rock in the middle. congressman cole will join me in the show in just a few minutes. finally, as the president gets set to change his cabinet, he took time out to publicly defend the woman who could be his next secretary of state.
6:11 am
>> susan rice is extraordinary. couldn't be prouder of the job she's done. >> you saw who led the clapping there. after that vote of confidence, the person that led that clapping, the outgoing secretary of state hillary clinton also spoke out in rice's defense. >> susan rice has done a great job as our ambassador to the unit nations. of course, this decision about my successor is up to the president. >> still rice had to spend another rough day on capitol hill discussing benghazi with skeptical senate republicans. >> the u.n. ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of the contentious presidential election campaign. >> i would just ask the president to step back for a moment and realize that all of
6:12 am
us here hold the secretary of state to a very different standard than most cabinet members. >> one rice ally, senator joe lieberman tried to take the focus off of rice this morning. >> i hope we can focus on what i think are the more important parts of our investigation which is what did our government know and what could it have done before the terrorist attack to protect the lives of the americans who were there. >> don't forget something here. this is not susan rice's first political rodeo. he didn't suddenly appear from team obama land in 2008. she has a lot of friends in this town, very experienced in washington. while this hasn't been the best week for her, it appears she can survive the confirmation process. the person who may have had a worst week than her is cia acting director mike morrell. he could end up the real
6:13 am
political loser in all this. his confirmation hearing could be the one that is the true proxy fight on all this if he ends up the president's choice to head up the cia which a lot of people say, frankly, he may be. there's another big story out there around the world that will have some political and other ramifications. palestinians go to the united nations today in an attempt to upgrade their status in the eyes of the global community. the u.s. says it won't help its bid to establish a palestinian stateside by side with israel. >> we oppose palestinian efforts to upgrade their status at the u.n. outside of the framework of negotiations to achieve a two-state solution because no matter what happens at the united nations, it will not produce the outcome that this government -- this president and certainly i strongly support. >> nbc's martin fletcher is live for us in tel aviv.
6:14 am
martin, it's nothing new that israel ends up losing p.r. battles with the united nations. this is sort of what's happened over the years. this was a vote that was actually delayed almost a year -- the united states successfully delayed this vote for a long time. what's going to happen today? >> reporter: well, the united states tried to delay this vote, too, very strongly and also israel. what's going to happen today is they're going to lose. it's going to be a bit of a slap in the face for the united states after having tried to persuade the palestinian leader not to take this vote. the palestinians it seems will have an overwhelming support in the general assembly. this vote will be carried and the palestinians will find therapy place as a nonobserver state, that status in the unit nations general assembly. what that means is they then are well on the way toward an ultimate acceptance as a state outside the process of the so-called peace process.
6:15 am
that's been the main american objective, the israeli objection, that the progress towards the state should take place but within the framework of peace negotiations, face to face with israel. this is kind of getting around the back and presenting israel with a fait accompli that israel and the united states are very much opposed to. >> martin, i know one of the things that the israelis and americans successfully argued over a year ago was this issue with the international criminal court. explain that aspect of this. >> reporter: yeah, that's the great fear. once the palestinians gain this status they're able to take part in various united nations forums. one is the international criminal court in the hague. their goal then would be to take israel to that criminal court, accuse israel of war crimes and attempt to prosecute israeli leaders, political leaders, military leaders and then israel
6:16 am
would find themselves very much on the defensive yet again in a united nations forum. that would help the process of delegitimizing israel in the eyes of the world, presenting israel as a criminal. that's an issue which is of great concern. >> the fact of the matter, that will only setback actual peace negotiations. martin fletcher in tel aviv. thank you. busy week for you. up next, breaking with boehner. the first republican to endorse the president's version of a compromise on taxes to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. oklahoma congressman tom cole joins me next. first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. one big thing on the schedule today that everybody is fairly interested in. that's that lunch with mitt romney. we're told no cameras. we'll see. we of the white house press corps officially protesting. we'd like to force them to let there be some official fourth estate coverage of this historic event.
6:17 am
we'll see if they grant it. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. a winter wonderland doesn't just happen. it takes some doing. some coordinating. and a trip to the one place with the new ideas that help us pull it all together. from the things that hang and shine... ...to the things that sparkle and jingle. all while saving the things that go in our wallet. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get fresh cut savings. live trees are arriving weekly. [ man thinking ] oh, this gas. those antacids aren't working. oh no, not that, not here! [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts.
6:18 am
progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪
6:19 am
[ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.
6:20 am
>> i told tom i disagreed with him. >> i think this is a minority position. >> i think this is a false choice. >> i think the majority of congress disagrees with it. we shouldn't be talking about raising tacks right now. we should be talking about where we're going to cut spending. congressman tom cole signaled republicans should accept the president's tax offer. many members of his conference are not on board. tom cole joins me, former chair of the nrcc. you're a guy that actually used to do political polling. you're one of the few politicians that knows how to
6:21 am
read a poll. congressman -- >> i can read an election, too. >> explain why you believe your way is the best way for republicans to get a better deal long term? >> first of all, we agree on where we want to go. i couldn't agree more with the speaker. raising tax rates is a terrible idea, bad for the economy, it will cost jobs, slow things down. frankly the president, if we're going to have a deal, has got to get finally more specific about spending cuts and entitlement reform. having said that, there is a point we agree. the president says he wants to make 80% of the bush tax cuts permanent for 98% of the american people and take them out of the discussion. i think we should do that. now, that advice was given in private, but you guys have a way of figuring out what was said in private. somebody leaked it out. >> you didn't intend for this to go public. >> no, no. but again, it is what i said. it's not an inaccurate report.
6:22 am
and again, i don't think it changes where we're going. our chief negotiator is the speaker. he can deliver the republican votes for a deal that he thinks is the right one. i always supported him in that. i'm sure i would again. again, if we can give the american people an early christmas present, if they can listen to the debate instead of being worried that their own taxes are going to go up, i think that actually strengthens our hand. our leverage here is not tax rates. that's actually the democrats' leverage. our leverage are spending cuts. the democrats don't want domestic spending cuts. they're going to happen if there's not a deal. the president is the commander in chief. it's a dangerous world. i have to believe, the secretary of defense wasn't want anymore defense cuts either. >> you do believe now coming out essentially to boehner's left you have helped the speaker be -- sort of keep the republican conference semi unified or does it hurt? i've heard some republicans say
6:23 am
what leaked out was a real public relations setback. >> oh, i don't think so. look. first of all, these things blow over pretty fast. but second, i think in the end of the day, having the ability to have an honest discussion is a good thing, not a bad thing. the speaker is very direct, very honest, very open. so am i. they asked my opinion for what i thought. i told them. i slnt changed my mind. i'm not going to come out here and be disingenuous to people. i think it would be a step in the right direction. at the end of the day, this is a debate over tactics. the real question is political theology and we don't disagree on that. >> how many republicans quietly have come up to xrou and said, you know what, you're right? this is the right strategy? >> there's certainly a division of opinion, variety of opinion inside the republican congress. i'll let other members speak for themselves and just leave it at all. >> grover norquist -- you were talking about leverage and you
6:24 am
believe republicans could get more leverage if they got this out of the way, called the white house's bluff, if you will and said, okay, fine, we'll give you this and have the larger debate. he believes the debt ceiling should be used as leverage. is that responsible governing? >> i think the speaker did, in our conference did the right thing last time. we were willing to raise the debt ceiling. that's a tough vote for republicans, but only if it was accompanied by reforms and long-term spending cuts. i actually think that's a good thing and should be institutionized. we should not continue on a course of piling up debt and not try to correct things. i think the speaker did the right thing, pushed for that, and we got it. as a result, we're going to have $2 trillion less in long-term debt thanks to what john mccain did. >> by the way, should there be a debt ceiling? is this sort of a ridiculous thing? >> i don't think it's ridiculous. i think it forces us to confront reality. we can't pile up debt without thought of where we're going. i think making congress put their fingerprints on this,
6:25 am
making the administration actually put something forward is a very good thing. i would not be forgetting to the debt ceiling. >> i'm curious what you thought of stuart stevens diagnosis about mitt romney. basically he says the reason they lost was the president was a charismatic african-american president, a billion dollars and a media that felt morally conflicted about being -- >> i haven't spent a lot of time. to be fair i haven't had a chance to read stuart's piece. i don't want to micromanage it. the incumbents are hard to beat, he got re-elected by less votes than he got the last time. we held the house of representatives. he's in a weaker position than he was in the first term. let's not prematurely panic. if i were picking something, i would have said a better job of defining mitt romney over the
6:26 am
summer early was probably the biggest drawback. once people got to know him after that first debate, it's amazing how quickly they transformed things. i think they did real and lasting damage. i give the obama campaign credit. they picked exactly the right moment when they had a financial advantage between june and august, before general election. they defined him and did a good job. people in the romney campaign don't have anything to be ashamed of. they ran a tough race. >> tom cole, member of congress, thank you. forget the powerball. wall street is feeling optimistic that lawmakers will hit the fiscal cliff jackpot. i don't know what they've heard. the market rundown is next. are we there yet? the votes are still being counted. the list of uncalled races is about to finally hit empty. our latest tally is coming up and why that 47% number is still haunting romney. if jeb bush were nominated
6:27 am
in 2016, they will be the second set by a major party. name the first set of brothers to do this? tweet me the answer @chuck thooet todd. the answer is coming up on "the daily rundown." we'll be right back. restore revive rejuvenate rebuild rebuild rebuild
6:28 am
gives you a low $18.50 monthly plan premium... and select generic hypertension drugs available for only a penny... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. but when i was in an accident... so you can focus on what really matters. i was worried the health care system spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. so i never missed a beat. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.
6:29 am
6:30 am
on our campaign radar this morning, one of the last 2012 races finally comes to an end. we've got big news for campaigns in 2013 and 2014. let me give you a little breaking news. mitt romney and paul ryan are having their own face to face meeting this morning. it's not happening on capitol hill, but at a washington hotel. they are meeting right now out of the way of a bunch of people hoping to catch of glimpse of
6:31 am
mitt romney in washington today. speaking of former vice presidential candidates, the current vice president joe biden, guess where he's at today? he's at the grand opening right now of the new costco in washington, d.c. remember the ceo of costco was a speaker at the democratic convention. the final house race that could have made a difference in the makeup of 113th congress has finally been called. north carolina's seventh district, republican david roser conceded to mike mcintyre yesterday. mcintyre had an advantage of 654, that's right, 654 votes. that gives democrats a net gain of eight house seats. the new house will have 234 republicans and 201 democrats. "the washington post" reports mike rounds is said to make his plans official to run for the u.s. nat in south dakota. senator tim johnson has yet to say whether he's run for re-elections but is considered one of the more likely to
6:32 am
retire. also tim johnson's son who is a u.s. attorney out there is thought to be a possible candidate for the uflt s. senate. virginia lieutenant governor bill bowling who just yesterday said he was not running for governor as a republican, he may run as an independent in the gubernatorial race in 2013. when he announced yesterday he would abandon the republican contest, he said he was suspending his campaign. then he went on to say he would be a more independent voice in the election. he said, quote, once we get the session behind us, we'll take a look at the political land came and see how things are coming together. there's a teary if terry mccough live, ken cuccinelli, that there will be room in the middle. we'll see. wall street appears optimistic after speaker boehner voiced confidence on wednesday that republicans can broker a deal with the white house to
6:33 am
avoid a fiscal cliff. cnbc's becky quick is here. what has more impact? the weekly jobless claims which have some sandy issues involved or the fiscal cliff talks? >> definitely the fiscal cliff. what you were talking about yesterday, boehner's comments really turned things around for the markets, all this sense of optimism all of a sudden. we saw the markets go from down triple digits for the dow up to triple digits. we haven't seen a swing like that since over a year ago. it's been october of 2011 was the last time it happened. it's definitely the fiscal cliff driving things. we heard commentary from lloyd blankfein, between that and the lead story -- one of the top stories on the front page of the "wall street journal" suggesting the president is flexible on the tax hikes, that sounds like a deal might get done. you see a gain of 50 or 60
6:34 am
points. gdp up 2.7% from 2%. there was concerning things when you dig into the numbers, it's all fiscal cliff all the time here, chuck. >> oh, hopefully, as you guys say, it will all -- people will rise above, right, becky? >> that's right. >> i know. i see the button. up next, we're taking a deep dive into the u.s. relationship with afghanistan. "the daily rundown" will be back in 30 seconds. it's gone on vietnam, long enough that soldiers who just reached the
6:35 am
minimum age of enlistment were in first grade when it began. today we're taking a deep dive into the war in afghanistan and the missed opportunities. in 2008 candidate obama made a powerful cass for focusing on what he called a war of necessity. >> our troops and our nato allies are performing here oakley in afghanistan. i have argued for years we lack the resources to finish the job because of our commitment to iraq. that is why as president i will make the fight against al qaeda and the taliban the top priority it should be. this is a war we have to win. >> shortly after being sworn in, president obama sent in 21,000 more troops, marked by brazen attacks by a resurgent taliban. in late 2009 president obama announced the u.s. was opting for a counter insurgency strategy known as c.o.i.n.
6:36 am
but to succeed, he said more troops were needed. >> the 30,000 additional troops i'm announcing will deploy in the first part of 2010, so they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers. they'll increase our ability to train competent afghan security forces and to partner with them so more afghans can get into the fight. >> but there was a key flaw in the plan to train afghan forces. many of them didn't feel they had a dog in the fight. they didn't support u.s. forces and didn't trust their own government. 2010 and 2011 ended up being the bloodiest years, more than 900 killed, more than four previous years combined. a year and a half later after the surge was announced it was over, the bhous said the taliban's momentum had been broken and a drawdown would begin. troop levels fell to 66,000 while the ranks of the afghan military grew. in september the u.s. suspended joint patrols with afghan
6:37 am
security forces after a speak in green-on-blue violence. attacks by afghan security forces on american service members. as recently as last month, "the new york times" reported despite having 195,000 soldiers, the afghan army is so plagued with desertion and low enlistment it has to replace a third of its force every year. 40,000 troops every year. because of that the u.s. may keep as many as 10,000 soldiers and trainers in afghanistan after the current withdrawal date of 2014. more than 2,000 u.s. troops have died and another 18,000 have been wounded during than more than 11 years of war, that includes eight soldiers killed. the story of the soldiers and their base is the subject of "the outpost," an untold story of american valor. my friend jake tapper is the author and also the senior white house correspondent -- starts
6:38 am
with an a. >> abc news. >> has this ever been done before? >> it is very exciting. mr. tapper -- >> thanks for having me on. >> thanks for coming on. one of the most amazing things about iraq and afghanistan is how few books have been written about what's happening on the ground, not about what generals or politicians have done. was that what you were thinking there? these stories haven't been told. >> you and i are very similar. one of the reasons we're both supporters is there are things we want to know and nobody is telling us. we try to find out the information ourselves. that's what happened with the book. i heard about the attack on the oeft post and i wanted to know why was there an outpost here, bottom of three steep miles, who would put it there? what's it like to go through an attack. 53 troops facing 400 taliban, all of whom have the high ground. it set me on the course to write
6:39 am
this book. >> soldiers all wanted to tell their story. all of a sudden you had more stories to tell than you had -- you may figure out i might write a second book. did the u.s. military try to make it harder for you? >> no. the pentagon i have to say was fairly cooperative. there were different levels of competence when it came to specific public affairs officials. generally speaking, they were cooperative. but they want you to go through them and i didn't. i generally just found the troops on my own and they put me in touch with their fellow troops. it's interesting, when you were talking about the afghan soldiers, this something i haven't talked about in other interviews. one of the things that's interesting, as i went through the life of this one combat outpost from 2006 to when it's overrun in 2009, is the different levels of competence when it came to the afghan soldiers. unfortunately for the u.s. in that region, in regional command
6:40 am
east, eastern afghanistan in 2009, it was one of the worst battalions of afghan soldiers ever. when it was attacked, when combat outpost keating was attacked, most of them ran away or hid or when through the american bar racks stealing ipods and computers. it's no surprise because actually a few months before at another combat outpost a similar thing happened when a bunch of -- they were attacked and a bunch of ana all surrendered at once. >> these soldiers, what do they say as to why they're there? do they know why they're there? >> these are smart guys and they have larger -- a wider idea of what's going on. they also have a foeblg cuss on what their task is at that moment. now in 2006 keating was set up for a couple reasons, one was to stop the flow of insurgents across the border.
6:41 am
the other was counterinsurgency, bonding the afghan people with their government. >> i'm talking about the larger things. i understand they tactically get why they're there. do they feel it's been explained to them enough, the larger mission? >> some of them yes. some of them no. their focus isn't the larger mission. their focus is the task at hand. they're soldiers. they do what they're told. right now one of the soldiers who is in the book is back in afghanistan -- a bunch of them are back. one told me his mission now is training afghan security forces, and his response is very similar to the response you hear of people in this town. do i think they'll be ready when we pull out in 2014? no. but do i think if we didn't pull out and didn't give them a date certain they would ever get their act together? no. what do you do? >> our day jobs is to make jay carney more uncomfortable. how does the white house press briefing become more informative to the american public?
6:42 am
>> i guess they could start providing us with information. >> that's always number one. do you think the worst thing is it's televised? this is hard for two television reporters to say that. do you think we'd get more information if it wasn't televised? >> i think so. people think we're performing for the cameras. >> exasperated. >> i'm a lot more quiet on tv. i'm more outgoing -- >> you're loud. we share very thin walls. i'm going to file a noise complaint. >> you have a baritone yourself, my friend. one of the things they could do, when they're trying to unveil a program, something to do with education reform or trade that our bosses would never put on the arks they bring somebody to the briefing to answer our questions. why don't they do that with benghazi. >> sn. >> with afghanistan, the stuff we're covering. >> cia, why don't they do that? >> because we might actually be interested in their answer. >> they might have facts to share.
6:43 am
>> jake, i'm proud of you. this is an important book. the most impactful book i ever read on vietnam was "the 13th valley," told the story of a larger war through the eyes of soldiers on the ground. wonderful job. congratulations. >> thank you, chuck. our political panel is ready to break down important numbers, that's next in the gaggle. first soup of the day, soup that jake or i never get to taste. it's called loaded potato. check out our website, rundown@msnbc.com. [ male announcer ] how do you trade?
6:44 am
with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, congratulations. right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. is the same frequent heartburn treatment as prilosec otc. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. wonderful job. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry.
6:45 am
[ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant
6:46 am
or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. barack obama was projected to be the winner of the 2012 election at 11:12 eastern time by nbc news and msnbc on election night. the next day the president led by two percentage points in the
6:47 am
popular vote, roughly a 2.6 million vote lead in the raw vote. well, 22 days later, we're still collecting data and the president's lead over mitt romney is actually growing, thanks to our friend david wasserman at the political report who has been keeping the vote tallies up to date. the president's vote total actually increased by 2 million to a lead of over 4 million votes, 4.5 million votes. here is the current total here, 65 million votes for the president. if you round it up it would be 51. for mitt romney 47%. not exactly a number he wants to be thinking about. let's go through a few states. in florida what we reported on election day was at the recount number, less than 50,000 vote lead for the president. his lead expanded to about 75,000, still less than a percentage vote. florida clearly incredibly close. ohio was a two-point margin on election day. on election night after the election it's gotten up to three
6:48 am
points with rounding, 51-48 as you can seechlt ohio getting close to the national average. then there is virginia which has been on the national number. on election day it was 51.48. it's expanded to 51-47. then colorado, 51-47 on election day. the big surprise is with rounding, 52-46. we'll talk about colorado in a minute. let's bring in my colleague at the white house, nbc's mike viqueira, former adviser to george bush and sarah feagin and doug thorn nell. welcome all. good to be with you. sarah, the colorado number is the one most striking. these provisional ballots has come in. it takes this country three weeks to count votes. it's a good thing we weren't waiting here. we've been through one of those. colorado, that's the one that
6:49 am
surprised me. >> it surprised a lot of people. >> not a large african-american population. a hispanic population that is more conservative in nature, one that there was an expectation that romney, if he didn't win, was only going to lose by a point. >> i think both sides misread colorado. >> they both did. the obama campaign thought it would be razor close. >> there is a challenge which is we can't be down five or six points in states that used to be reliably republican. >> this is not very fun loving for colorado. >> or at least swing republican and expect to and expect a chance at a governing majority any time soon. we have a lot of work to do. the underlike tenets is younger, hispanic. these are things that the party needs to figure out how to better communicate. >> it sounds like the great litmus test. as virginia goes, so goes
6:50 am
america, the closest of the two. if they ever fix it in colorado, they may be able to fix it everywhere else. >> they looked at how michael bennett ran his senate race two years ago. very tough environment for democrats. he was able to win. they stitched together a similar coalition of young voters, of women and is a problem for republicans as you move west. if this is not a place where they can compete, that's a real problem. >> and let me get mike in here. colorado is -- denver is really sort of -- i know stewart stevens and others have said they won swing voters, butt swi but the swing part of the country is the suburb and the president won the sub about yours. >> a demographic that is indicative of the democratic coalition.yours. >> a demographic that is indicative of the democratic coalition.
6:51 am
no coincidence that the president is going to a suburban area tomorrow to campaign outside philadelphia. those collared counties. >> suburbs are everything. >> i worked with them. i have great admiration for his creative genius. i didn't -- i didn't think we were watching the same election in many respects. and like i said, losing is hard. >> you put it well. losing is hard. let's take a quick break. trivia time. we asked if jeb bush were to be nominated for president or vice president in 2016, he and george w. bush will only be the second set of brothers to both be nominated to national office. name the first. the answer is the bryan brothers. william skrening ijennings and . the younger brother was the vice presidential nominee on the 1924
6:52 am
losing democratic ticket. thanks to nbc's will rabb for that question. if you have a political trivia question, eflt mail us. [ male announcer ] when was the last time something made your jaw drop? campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes, we trip ourselves up, but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you as you go through your life with personalized policies and discounts when you need them most. just call... and speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married,
6:53 am
move into a new house... [crash!] or add a car to your policy. don't forget to ask about saving up to 10% when you combine your auto and home insurance with liberty mutual. security, coverage, and savings. all the things humans need to make our beautifully imperfect world a little less imperfect. call... and lock in your rate for 12 months. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.
6:54 am
6:55 am
let's bring back the gaggle. tom cole, you heard him on the show. help or hurt john boehner's cause of cutting a deal before going over the qulcliff? >> long term probably helps. not helpful every day that goes by without entitlements being part of the discussion. >> i snow there are senate republicans frustrated. do you think tom cole helps the cause of barack obama? >> keeps taxes in the discussion, so it helps. >> you are a skeptic that there would be a deal.
6:56 am
>> why would i be a skeptic? >> you believe we will gooff o the cliff. >> i do. i want to see the speaker put something on the floor that does not get the majority. >> i will make the prediction he will go there without knowing he had the majority. i have sources who claim this. shame wless plug. >> christmas, remember the folks in new jersey and new york. >> i have to go with my washington redskins. big game monday night, new york giants. wild card. >> lose record wild card? >> i know you're excited about facial hair being all the rage these days, but this is the last day of november. men's health issue prostate and tess ti testicular cancer. that's it for the daily
6:57 am
rundown. we'll see you back here tomorrow. coming up next, chris jansing. te of year again and now -- i got a great new way to get deals. it's called bankamerideals, from bank of america. i choose the cash back deals in my mobile or online banking. i just use my bank of america debit or credit card when i pay. and i get as much as 15% cash back -- put into my account. this is on top of other rewards and discounts i already get. best of all -- it's free. happy holidays. [ male announcer ] introducing bankamerideals, free for online banking customers. sign in to your online banking to choose your deals today. [ male announcer ] are you on medicare? do you have the coverage you need? open enrollment ends friday, december 7th. so don't wait.
6:58 am
now's the time to get on a path that could be right for you... with unitedhealthcare medicare solutions. call today to learn about the kinds of coverage we offer, including aarp medicarecomplete plans insured through unitedhealthcare. these medicare advantage plans can combine parts a and b, your hospital and doctor coverage... with part d prescription drug coverage, and extra benefits... all in one complete plan... for a $0 monthly premium. no more than what you already pay for medicare part b. unitedhealthcare doesn't stop there. we'll cover 100% of your preventive services... like an annual physical and immunizations... and you'll have the flexibility to change doctors within one of the nation's largest networks, dedicated to helping you live a healthier life. other benefits can include vision and hearing coverage -- and the pharmacy saver program
6:59 am
gives you access to prescriptions as low as $2... at thousands of pharmacies across the country, in retail locations like these. ♪ call to enroll today and enjoy these benefits... for a $0 monthly premium. most plans also include part d prescription drug coverage. your healthcare needs are unique. that's why, with over 30 years of medicare experience, we're here to guide you every step of the way. open enrollment ends december 7th. so don't wait. if you're medicare eligible, call now... and talk to unitedhealthcare about our plans, like aarp medicarecomplete. let's get you on the right path. call today. ♪ till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way...